MATTHEW 1-9 THAT IT MIGHT BE FULFILLED2014 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Matthew 1-9 That It Might Be Fulfilled

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2014. Since we didn't start the book of Matthew, I wanted to begin from chapter 1 this evening and go through chapter 9, which is where we read through today. And so we'll go through a little bit quicker pace than normal, but get a good overview of the book of Matthew chapters 1 through 9.

As we start now the book of Matthew, we're transitioning from the Old Testament to the New Testament. And the history of the Old Testament ends with really the book of Nehemiah and Esther and that time period where the people have returned from Babylon back to the land of Israel and are beginning to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. And

And so looking at 444 BC is when Nehemiah is there in Jerusalem working on the walls, rebuilding the walls and reestablishing Jerusalem as a city. It was a little bit after that, 430 BC, that Malachi ministered to Israel, the prophet Malachi, the last Old Testament book. He was the last Old Testament prophet. And then from there, there's what is referred to as the 400 years of silence.

There's no more prophets after Malachi until John the Baptist comes on the scene. During that time, while the prophets are silent, God's not speaking through prophets, there was a lot going on though. It was during that time that the Greek Empire came to be. Alexander the Great conquered the world around 331 BC. You know, they fully rose to power.

But then also, there was, you know, the split up of the Greek Empire into four kingdoms and then two dominant ones and the fights that happened in between. And so Jerusalem was in just disarray.

disarray, you know, for a long period of time until the Roman Empire came into being because, you know, one king or one, you know, power had the control of Israel and then the next king came and fought against him and there was just back and forth and back and forth and there was also the defiling of the temple that happened in there. And so in 167 BC, there was what's referred to as the Maccabean Revolt, which was a family that, you know, led a rebellion against

the power of the day and reclaimed the temple and dedicated it and cleansed it. And so there was all these things that were going on in between. And then in 63 BC, there was, you know, the beginnings of a little bit of peace as Rome came to power and began to rule over the area. There was still a lot of political turmoil, but the battles back and forth were not as much.

A little bit later on, 2 BC is when we look at the birth of Jesus Christ. Now, these dates, there's always a little bit of, you know, room for discussion, you know, a couple years ahead, a couple years back, but these are estimates of the timings of these things.

He began his ministry then at about 28 AD when he was about 30 years old. In 32 AD, after about three and a half years of ministry, he was crucified and then resurrected. And then 63 AD is the end of the book of Acts. Now, I put those references in there to just give us some sense of what we're talking about. In the Old Testament, we spent the last two years going through the Old Testament, we covered several thousand years of history.

In the New Testament, we're just covering about 60 years of history and really just focusing on the last 30 years of that history. So it's a lot more condensed as Jesus comes on the scene and we're talking about a very short period of time in comparison to what we've just been going through in looking at the Old Testament. So now as we head into the New Testament, there's four main sections of the New Testament. You

You have the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And then you have the historical book, which is the book of Acts. Then you have the epistles or the letters. And so that's all those letters from Paul as well as Peter and James and such. And then you have the final book of prophecy, which is the book of Revelation. And so we're going to be spending, you know, this year covering these different sections as we work our way through the New Testament and

And we're going to be spending the bulk of the year in the Gospels, looking at the life of Jesus Christ as we go through Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. So those are the Gospels. We're here in the book of Matthew, the first Gospel, and going to be looking at the life of Jesus through the lens or the picture that Matthew paints for us. The book of Matthew, we believe it's written somewhere in between around 41 to 60 A.D.,

I'm going to say BC, you know, here and there when I mention dates because that's what I've been doing for the past two years. So please allow me some time to adjust. But 41 through 60 AD, there's lots of reasons why we believe this. But the idea, you know, the main point to understand is that it was written very soon after the actual events happened, after Christ ascended from about 10 to 30 years in that time period. Matthew has compiled and written this book.

Now it's named Matthew because Matthew is the author. He was one of the 12 disciples. He was a tax collector as we'll see in the passage this evening. And then he was also known as Levi. So Levi and Matthew are the same person. Now as we look at the Gospel of Matthew, we can see that each Gospel is

has a slightly different focus and emphasis as they are presenting Jesus to us. And so as you came in this evening, they gave the handout of the Gospels and it kind of gives a little bit more detail in there, the different four Gospels and different aspects and elements of those. And so you can check those out. But as we look at the book of Matthew, we are seeing that he is emphasizing that Jesus is the promised Messiah.

He's emphasizing that Jesus is the one who is promised to come, the Savior that God had promised. He's writing primarily to the Jewish people and to present their Savior, the Messiah that they've been waiting for, to them. And so we see that emphasis in that he quoted the Old Testament a great deal.

And so we're going to be keeping track of and walking through and highlighting those different quotations from the Old Testament because that's what Matthew is seeking to do. He's seeking to say all those things that were promised in the Old Testament, in the Old Covenant, they are fulfilled in Jesus Christ and he is the one that was promised to come.

The book of Matthew has more Old Testament references than any of the other gospel writers. And so it's definitely a strong emphasis as he's writing to the Jewish people who would know the scriptures. He's referring them back to the many different ways that Jesus fulfilled the scriptures.

Here's a quick look at the geography in Jesus' day. So we start out in Bethlehem there in the south, of course. That's where Jesus was born. Jerusalem is just a little bit north of Bethlehem and it's still the center, the capital of the Jewish nation. There's a bunch of different regions throughout the area because they're broken up in different political arenas and such. And so you have Galilee in the north, which was where Jesus lived.

was raised there in Nazareth. He also ministered a lot in Galilee and Capernaum became his headquarters or his home. He moved there and we'll see that in our passages this evening as well. And so you have Galilee up in the north. You have Decapolis which is there a little bit south of Galilee on the other side of the Jordan River and that's referenced quite a bit. You have Perea and Samaria and

Idumea and then Nabatea is way down south. You can't see it. But all these different regions or different political areas and such because there was a lot of different rulers, the Herods and Philip the Tetrarch and things like that. And so there was a lot of things politically going on. But as we look at the life of Jesus, we're kind of just looking at the geography here to get a good sense of what's happening. Now,

Now, the nation of Israel, as you look at this map, is not very large. And so don't imagine it like the United States.

uh imagine it more like well the square footage or square miles of the nation of israel is roughly the same as the county of san bernardino so the nation of israel is about the same size as the county of san bernardino shaped a little bit differently uh but to give you a sense you know you could travel it by car you know very easily in a day to get from one end to the other and uh the jordan river and such you know you can go along the whole thing and in fact uh

Back in 2006 when we did our Israel trip, we did that. We went from Galilee all the way down to the south in one day as part of our tour to go over to the Jordan. And so, yeah. So that's just to give you a little scope of the size of the things that we're talking about here.

All right, well, we begin now in Matthew chapter 1. Now, as you can see, there's a little bit of a new slide layout as we head into the New Testament. I wanted to mix it up a little bit and clear it up a little bit. So keep in the same format. We have a key verse. We have the summary of the passages of the chapter that we're looking at. And then on the bottom left, I include an approximate date of the passage.

you know, for the events that are taking place in that chapter. So you can kind of follow along with us and we start in Matthew chapter 1 with the key verse, which is verse 21. It says, And she will bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.

And so here we're introduced to Jesus Christ. From the very beginning, it goes back in verses 1 through 17 to map out the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Now you and I, as we, you know, start the New Testament, and maybe you're excited to start the New Testament after spending two years in the Old Testament, and you get to the New Testament, and you're like...

The book of the genealogy. The son of David, the son of, the son of, the son of, and he begot he. And you're like, oh my goodness, this is just like the Old Testament. Because this was very important to them. Genealogies were essential for them. Now, you and I, we don't, you know, I don't know how many of us can, you know, trace our lineage back generations and generations and generations. I know my dad, and I know my grandparents, and I...

know vaguely about my great-grandparents but beyond that I have no idea and I bet many of you are the same genealogies are just not that essential for us but for them this was essential and for Jesus it was essential because he had to be able to trace his lineage back to David back to Abraham to be a descendant of Abraham to be a descendant of David as the promised Messiah

I was kind of thinking about it in this way. It's a little bit silly, but, you know, genealogies to us are like, okay, you know, big deal. Not that important. And if you were to go back to that time and say, talk to John the Baptist and tell him how many Twitter followers you had, he'd be like, who cares? You know, that doesn't mean anything to us. In the same way, genealogies don't mean much to us, but to them it was super important. And looking at Jesus Christ, it was essential because he had to be of faith.

The line of Abraham of the line of David. And that's what he was. Alright, so verses 18 through 25 now. You have the birth of Jesus Christ. Joseph was going to quietly separate from Mary because it was found out that she was pregnant. And so Joseph figured she's been sleeping around.

And so he's thinking this isn't good. So he is an honorable man. He wants to separate quietly. But then an angel appears to him and explains what's going on. And so then they go ahead with the marriage after Jesus Christ is born.

So this all is taking place around 2 BC. Now again, these dates are approximate based on a few things and there's some, you know, difficulties in nailing down the exact dates because of the switch to the Gregorian calendar and some overlaps and some mistakes and those kinds of things. So, you know, this is roughly when we're talking about 2 BC. Some say it's 4 BC and you can wrestle with that later on if that's important to you.

But when we go through the book of Matthew, or as we go through the book of Matthew, I want to take a moment to highlight the Old Testament references in the chapter, since that is an essential part of the book of Matthew and something that he emphasizes. And so we do see a reference here in verse 22. He says,

And so he's saying this is all to fulfill the scripture that has already been given. And so you might be wondering, you know, why did we spend the last two years going through the Old Testament? Well, because all of those things that we've gone through are part of the plan of God and the purposes of God and the declaration of Jesus Christ to us.

Jesus said in John 5 39, you search the scriptures. He's talking to the religious leaders. They're studying the Old Testament. He says, because in them you think you have life, but these are they which testify of me. The scriptures, the Old Testament is talking about me, Jesus says. And so that's one of the main reasons why we study it, because it's the foreshadowing and the declaration of the Savior that is to come.

And so now we're beginning to see the fulfillment as Jesus has come upon this scene. As Matthew emphasizes that he is the promised Savior, he refers back to the promises that were given.

And so the promise is found in Isaiah chapter 7 verse 14, which says, Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and you shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us. And that is fulfilled by Jesus Christ, born of a virgin. He is God with us because he, being God, became man and was born of the Virgin Mary. Chapter 2 now, verse 9 is the key verse.

It says,

In verses 1 through 12, you see the wise men show up and they worship Jesus. They show up later on than chapter 1. It's not the evening of his birth like the shepherds were, but it's sometime later on, probably about a year or two later is when they show up. And part of the way you can see that is in verse 11. It refers to the house that they're in. So they're not in the stable any longer, but they're in a house at this time.

It's always assumed that there's three wise men, but that's not actually declared here. There's three gifts that are given, but the number of wise men is unspecified. Verses 13 through 15, Joseph and Mary flee to Egypt because Herod is freaked out about this possibility of a king that the wise men just told him about. And so an angel appears to Joseph again and says, hey, you got to get out of here, run to Egypt, and then we'll bring you back later on.

In verses 16 through 18, Herod, threatened by the idea of someone being king, he kills all the boys in Bethlehem who are two years old and younger based upon the time that he learned from the wise men and their travels and the time that the star appeared. And so that's why we believe, you know, it's about a year or two when the wise men show up after Jesus was born.

Then in verses 19 through 23, Joseph and Mary move to Nazareth. So they're in Egypt for a season, but then an angel appears to Joseph again and tells him to go back to Israel. So here's what it looks like on the map. They're in Bethlehem.

And they're there for a time. Jesus is born there. Then they're in a house for a time. The wise men come and visit. The angel appears to Joseph and says, flee to Egypt. And so he makes the journey. It's a few hundred miles to go from Bethlehem to... Tradition says that they went down near the Memphis area in Egypt. And so they travel down there. They stay down there. And then God says, okay, time to go back. So they pack up and they move...

As they go back to Israel, they go back to the hometown of Joseph and Mary, which is Nazareth. And so that's where they came from. That's where they were before they went to Bethlehem. And so they go back there and Jesus now is going to be raised in Nazareth. Now in chapter 2, we see a couple references to the Old Testament. In verse 5 and 6...

We have a reference to where Jesus would be born or where the Messiah would be born. And that's a reference to Bethlehem. It's a quotation from Matthew chapter 5. I'm sorry, not Matthew, Micah chapter 5 verse 2. And so 700 years later,

Prior to Jesus being born, Micah announced the birthplace would be Bethlehem. He also included some interesting details as you see in verse 2 of Micah 5. He says that he will be the one to be ruler in Israel whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting. And so Micah points out not only will he come from Bethlehem, but he will be from everlasting. That is, he will have always existed.

And that is, you know, a reference to the deity of Jesus Christ, that he, being God, has always existed, and yet he became man and came from Bethlehem.

Then in Matthew chapter 2 verses 14 and 15, we have another reference. It talks about them going to Egypt, that it might be fulfilled what the Lord said, you know, out of Egypt I called my son. And this is a quotation from Hosea chapter 11 verse 1. And it says, when Israel was a child, I loved him and out of Egypt I called my son.

And so Hosea is talking about how God brought Israel out of Egypt through the prophet Moses. But it's, as we see here, there's a dual meaning here. He called his son Israel out of Egypt, but he also called his son Jesus out of Egypt and brought him back to the land of Israel.

Another reference is found in verse 17 and 18, which talks about the weeping that is the result of the massacre that happens in Bethlehem when Herod puts the kids to death. And that's a quotation from Jeremiah chapter 31, verse 15. And then the final reference here in chapter 2 is in verse 23, which is when they go back to Nazareth.

It says that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophets, he shall be called a Nazarene.

Now, as far as we know, this is not a direct quotation. There might be some other prophets that had writings that we don't have access to any longer that it was a quotation from. But scholars have suggested it could be possibly a reference to Judges chapter 13, which is a reference to the Nazarite vow. And those words are related, Nazarite and Nazareth are related. And so that's a possibility there.

Others have suggested out of Isaiah chapter 11 verse 1 when it says that the branch shall grow out of the roots from the rod of Jesse.

That word branch is nezer, which is related to Nazareth. And so it could be a reference to that. Others have suggested that as Jesus says in Isaiah chapter 53, that he would be despised and rejected. The people of Nazareth were despised and rejected in Jesus' day. And so it could be a reference to that as well. And so that's the final reference there in chapter 2. All right, chapter 3 now. Verse 16 is the key verse.

Now we're looking ahead. We're jumping to about 28 AD. We're about 30 years later. Verse 16, it says, When he had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon him.

Verses 1 through 6, we're introduced to John the Baptist, and he begins to preach in Judea. Now, John the Baptist was related to Jesus, and he was sent ahead by the Lord as a prophet to prepare the way of the Lord and call the people to repentance.

There was a lot of issues in the people of God in that day, in the nation of Israel. There was a lot of corruption and pride. There was a lot of, you know, religious things that were not of the Lord at all. There was a lot of things that had to be addressed. And so he called the people to repentance and people were coming to repentance. They were turning away from their sin in order to follow God.

Then in verses 7 through 12, John rebukes the Pharisees and the Sadducees. They come out and he speaks against them and rebukes them because in their, you know, super self-righteousness, they did not believe that they needed to repent. They refused to repent and insisted that they were righteous. Then in verse 13 through 17, John baptizes Jesus.

And as Jesus comes on the scene, John says, hey, I shouldn't baptize you. You should baptize me. He's recognizing that Jesus is the one that he has sent before.

Jesus, of course, did not need to be baptized because baptism pictures that repentance from sin in order to follow God. So he didn't need it because there was no repentance necessary. He had nothing to repent of. But this is an important part. He says, let it be done because it needs to be done to fulfill all righteousness and to be the example for us.

And so this baptism of Jesus marks the beginning of his public ministry.

It's interesting too here we also get to see a glimpse of the triune nature of God. Because you have all three aspects of the triune nature of God in their different elements. So Jesus is here in the water. The Holy Spirit descends upon him from heaven. And then the Father speaks forth from heaven. And so you have the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

They're distinct and separate from one another. It's not, you know, one person jumping all around doing, you know, everything. They're distinct and separate, yet they're all God and united together. We have one reference from the Old Testament here in chapter 3. It's found in verse 3.

And it talks about the voice of one crying in the wilderness, which is what John says in response to who he is. John was there to prepare the way for Jesus. And so he quotes Isaiah chapter 40, verse 3.

This was a common practice for them. When kings were coming to an area, there would be delegations and servants who were sent ahead. They would repair the roads. They would clean up the city, you know, get everything ready so that the king would come in and everything would be nice and prepared.

John served this role for Jesus. He was calling people to repentance, you know, getting people to clean up a little bit and get ready because the king was entering in. And so he is the one calling out in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord. Chapter 4 now, verse 17 is the key verse. It says, "...from that time Jesus began to preach and say, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

And so Jesus now begins his ministry after he's baptized in verses 1 through 11. He heads out into the wilderness and he's tempted by the devil after fasting for 40 days. And so he's tempted by the devil and undergoes, you know, some severe temptations. And the author of Hebrews, you know, points this out to say, hey, look.

This is a reason why we can come to Jesus because he underwent temptation. He knows what it's like to be tempted. In verse 15 of Hebrews chapter 4, he says, "...we do not have a priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses. He was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin." And so he says, "...let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

And so as you see that Jesus was tempted, remember that he then can relate to you. He can understand. He knows what it's like. He knows your struggles. He knows your weaknesses. He can sympathize and it makes him a great high priest and we can come to him for grace and mercy in our times of need.

Then in verses 12 through 17, Jesus begins to preach. His message, very similar to John the Baptist, it is repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

It's at this time there in verse 13, you see that he moves to Capernaum. It's his new hometown. It's his headquarters for his ministry. And so he's there from Capernaum branching out, going through the region of Galilee and preaching this message of repentance, calling people to turn from sin in order to follow God. He says, the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Because, of course, the king, Jesus, is there. And so he is introducing himself and calling people to repentance. Then in verses 18 through 22, he calls Peter, Andrew, James, and John. These were all fishermen who were there on the shore of Galilee. And he calls them to follow him. And they leave their boats, they leave their nets, they leave their family, and they begin to follow Jesus. In verses 23 through 25, he preaches and heals in all Galilee.

Much of Jesus' ministry, specifically recorded in Matthew and the other Gospels, does take place in the Galilee area, not in the south where Jerusalem is, which is where you might think most of it would take place, but actually a lot of it is taking place in the northern part of Israel, around Capernaum and his hometown there in the Sea of Galilee.

In verse 25, it tells us that great multitudes followed him from Galilee, from Decapolis, from Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan. And so here is Jesus is beginning to preach. He's going throughout the area. There's miracles that are happening. And there's this conversation

great commotion that's happening. A great multitude now begins to follow Jesus. And, you know, they're getting to know his name. They're beginning to understand that, you know, a prophet is on the scene, even though they don't fully understand the role of Jesus in the plan of God. Here's a quick look at the region of Galilee. So Nazareth is where Jesus grew up. But here in this chapter, we see he moves now to Capernaum, which is right there on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. And

It's probably where Peter lived as well as James and John. And so they were fishermen and they would, you know, go out to the Sea of Galilee and fish and provide their living in that way. But then Jesus starts from there and he goes all around this whole area, all around the Sea of Galilee in order to preach the message of repentance and call people to right relationship with God.

Well, we have a few references to the Old Testament here in chapter 4. In verse 4, we have a reference to the Old Testament when Jesus responds to the temptation that the devil brings to turn stones to bread. And he says, no, it's written that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. And this is a quotation from Deuteronomy chapter 8, verse 4.

Three, here Jesus is reminding us the importance of obeying God first and trusting him to meet our needs because we are to live by his word even at the expense of our hunger. And so obey him first and trust him to meet your needs. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these other things will be added unto you, Jesus will later say.

Well then we see another reference in verse 5 and 6 where the devil now quotes the Bible. In verse 5 and 6 he quotes from Psalm 91 verse 11 and 12 as he tempts him to jump off the ledge and saying that the angels will catch him and not allow him to strike his foot against a stone. And so we learn here the devil can quote the Bible too. So Jesus quotes the Bible. We're like yeah that's great. But

Not every time that the Bible is quoted is it a good thing. And sometimes things are out of context and twisted and used in ways that are not good, are not right. And that's what the devil is doing here. So Jesus responds, another reference now in verse 7, with a quotation from Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 16, saying, you shall not tempt the Lord your God, but

Yeah, you shall not tempt the Lord your God. And so he responds. He, you know, corrects the false doctrine that Satan is teaching and stays faithful to God. Then in verse 10, we have the third reference from Jesus as he battles this temptation. He quotes Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 13 as Satan asks, you know, hey, bow down to me and I'll give you all the nations of the earth.

And he said, no, you shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve. And so he uses the scriptures to give him strength and to be victorious through the temptations that he faces. Great example for us. The final Old Testament reference that we have here in chapter 4 is in verses 14 through 16, which makes reference to Zebulun.

which was from Isaiah chapter 9 verses 1 and 2. And it's a call back to remember when Joshua went into the promised land and divided up the land between the tribes of Israel. Zebulun was one of the tribes.

They had the territory right there around Galilee. And so it's a reference to Jesus' ministry in Galilee back in Isaiah chapter 9 verses 1 and 2. And so Matthew is pointing out, you know, what Isaiah prophesied about the Messiah is being fulfilled by Jesus Christ because he is that promised Messiah. He is the Savior that has come.

Matthew chapter 5, now verse 2 is the key verse. It says, then he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, and now he's going to go on to give them what we refer to as the Sermon on the Mount. It's recorded for us here in Matthew chapter 5, 6, and 7. And so 5, 6, and 7 all go together. They're a message that Jesus delivered to

Probably not only just this one time, but in many occasions as he was traveling and sharing the message that he had from the Lord. So he begins in verses 1 through 12.

With the blessed are you's or the beatitudes. So blessed are the poor in spirit he says. For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And he goes on to refer to many things like that. Now what he's doing is he's introducing the reality that we sometimes miss. And that is the way to gain real blessings is often opposite of what we would think.

So it's the poor in spirit who receive the kingdom of God. It's those who mourn who are comforted.

It's those who are meek who will inherit the earth. Even as Jesus will later on say, you know, if you want to save your life, you have to lose it for my sake. But if you try to save your life, then you will lose your life. And so you have to lose your life in order to find your life. A lot of times, spiritual realities are opposite of what we would expect.

You think, hey, you know, if I'm gonna feel good and be comforted, then I need to go party. I need to live it up. I need to distract myself from all this sorrow. But Jesus said, no, blessed are those who mourn.

Because you will be comforted. He doesn't say blessed are those who party because then you'll be comforted. He says blessed are those who mourn. And so a lot of times we have to go through the opposite of what we want or the blessings that we want and the spiritual realities become real and we get to experience the real blessings of life that come in the opposite way of which we would expect. Then in verses 13 through 16 he declares that you are salt and light.

So you are in this life, he says, in this world, here as a witness, as a light to the world, as salt, as a preservative to the world. And so he tells us in verse 16, let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. He says you're supposed to be a witness, a declaration that would cause people to glorify the Father.

He then explains in verses 17 through 20 that he came to fulfill the law. Now this is really important too because Jesus did not come to abolish the law, he explains. You might think as Jesus comes on the scene, he's like, all right, get rid of that old covenant. Get rid of all that junk. We don't need that no more. We're going to start something new. But that's not really what Jesus does. He says, I came to fulfill the law.

And he makes sure to point out, hey, no part of the law is going to pass away. It's all going to be fulfilled. And I am the one who has come to fulfill it. Then he goes on to say something that would blow their minds. He says in verse 20, unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

So he says, not only am I not getting rid of the law, but unless you do better at the law than the scribes and the Pharisees, you're not going to enter into the kingdom of God. And that would blow their minds because the scribes and the Pharisees in their culture and their, you know, understanding were the ones who did the best at keeping the law. And Jesus says, you got to do better than them or you're not entering into the kingdom of God.

And this would have been like, this is, how can we do that? How can we be better? And the point that Jesus is making is, I'm not getting rid of the law in the sense that it no longer means anything. I'm going to fulfill the law and by faith in me, you will have my righteousness attributed to you and you will have access to eternity with God. And so he's declaring from the get-go,

That he is the fulfillment of the law. And so salvation is only possible through faith in Jesus Christ.

Then in verses 21 through 48, he goes on to address various areas of sin and going back to the real issue of that sin. He says, you have heard it said, but I say to you, and he addresses the issue of murder and adultery, divorce, swearing, revenge, and enemies. And through all of this, he's pointing out the real issue is the heart issue.

And they had developed ways for them to keep the law outwardly while remaining corrupt within. Their hearts were not changed. Their hearts were not in keeping the law. But they were able to perform these ceremonies and rituals so that they outwardly kept the law. And Jesus is saying, the real issue though is the heart. And that's what you need to address. And so we can see that here.

in these references that Jesus is calling back to. So the first one we find in this chapter is verse 21. He says, But then he goes on to explain,

Then you're guilty of murder. The issue is the heart. He's quoting from Exodus chapter 20 verse 13. Where God says you shall not murder.

And you might be able to keep that outwardly. You know, hey, I didn't actually slit their throat. But you wanted to, Jesus said. That's the point. That's the issue. Your heart is what needs to be addressed. So you've heard it said, you know, and as long as you keep it on the outside, you're good. But God says, no, that's not good. You can't just keep stuff on the outside. Your heart is in the wrong place. And you hate your brother.

Well, the second reference is in verse 27. He says, you've heard it said to those of old, you shall not commit adultery. Quoting from Exodus chapter 20, verse 14. And then he goes on to explain, but if you look at a woman lustfully in your heart, you've already committed adultery in your heart. And so you might not commit the actual act physically, but if your mind is there, Jesus says, you're already guilty because the issue is in the heart.

In verse 31, he deals with divorce. He says, it has been said, whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce. So the mentality, the idea was, hey, as long as I give, you know, the proper paperwork, it's okay. I can divorce as long as I give that paperwork that, you know, I'm supposed to give. A certificate of divorce. Now, you know, I'm righteous. I'm okay. I'm right with God because I gave the certificate. He's quoting from Deuteronomy chapter 24, verse 1.

But Jesus is explaining, no, there's more to it than that. Just because you file the paperwork that you're supposed to file doesn't make it right. It doesn't make divorce the right thing to do. And so again, he's addressing the heart and he's going to address this subject of divorce in more detail in chapter 19. So I'll save more comments for that. Then in verse 33, we see another reference. He says, you've heard it said...

To those of old, you shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord. Quoting from Leviticus chapter 19 verse 12.

And so here he's talking about swearing, not cussing, like we often refer to swearing, but I promise, you know, and they would have these elaborate promises. And well, if you promise on this, then you don't have to keep it. But if you promise on, you know, the other thing, well, then you really have to keep it. And so they had all these, you know, systems for swearing that, you know, had different degrees of

you know, requirements for faithfulness to it. And Jesus says, that's ridiculous. Let your yes be yes and your no be no. That is what, you know, you need to do. And he says, anything other than that is from the evil one. And so that system that you've set up, you know, allows you to keep it on the outside, but your heart's still wrong and your heart's in the wrong place. Then in verse 38, he says, you have heard it said, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

Quoting from Leviticus chapter 24 verses 19 and 20. And here he's dealing with the issue of revenge or retribution. The idea was, you know, hey, if your neighbor comes at you and gouges out your eye, then what the law said was that's the maximum penalty that can be given to that person. That their eye would be gouged out in, you know, punishment for what they did to you.

And Jesus here is explaining, look, you don't have to insist that they receive the full punishment of the law. You can show grace and you can show mercy. And so, you know, it doesn't have to be, well, you did this to me, so I'm going to make sure you hurt exactly the way that I hurt. Jesus says, no, that's a wrong heart. That's not the heart that you need to have. And then in verse 43, he says, you've heard it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. Quoting from Leviticus chapter 19, verse 18.

So he's talking about enemies now and he says, here's what needs to happen. You need to love your enemies. You need to pray for them. You need to bless them. You need to be kind to them. Even if they spitefully use you, even if they're mean to you, you need to do good to them. Again, addressing the issue of the heart and not saying, well, hey, he did this to me so I can do this to them. But instead, you know, showing kindness when others are not.

Well, that brings us now to chapter 6, verse 24. He says, no one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. So now Jesus is continuing on with the Sermon on the Mount, and he's addressing a variety of things here in this chapter. In verses 1 through 4, he talks about charitable deeds, and he says, hey, make sure you do those charitable deeds in secret.

He says, if you do them openly and announce trumpets like Ronnie does, you know, on Sunday evening he gave a message on this part. That's why I said that. But if you announce it, you know, they would like blow trumpets and say, everybody, look what I'm doing. You know, I'm doing such a good deed here. He says, you have your reward right then. You know, that's the only reward you get, people's applause and appreciation. But if you do it in secret, he says, then your father...

Who is in secret will reward you. And so you can lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven. He'll say in a few minutes. And so you can store it ahead. Send it ahead. Keep it a secret. Do it unto the Lord. And you'll have a reward later on in heaven. In verses 5 through 15 he talks about prayer. And gives the example of how to pray. Or pray in this manner. Again he's still addressing the issue. He talks about don't pray to be seen.

And we got to, you know, check our hearts in this as well. Sometimes when we have times of prayer, there's a temptation for us to pray to be seen. You know, for people to, I want people to admire the way that I pray. You know, I want people to, you know, we gather up in groups to pray for the missionaries. And, you know, I want people to be impressed, you know, with how I pray for them and what insight I have for them. And, you know, how I'm able and, you know, if you're praying for the benefit of others or so that others will be impressed, you know,

Jesus says, your heart's in the wrong place. And so you need to be praying to God and keeping it between you and him. And he's the one that you're speaking with and not to everybody else around you. He says, don't use vain repetitions. So if you say the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over again, you know, maybe you have a little necklace and you follow the beads and you go through and you say it over and over and over and over again. He says, that's not going to help you be heard from the Lord. Those vain repetitions do not help.

And then he gives us the model prayer also in this passage. Then in verses 16 through 24, he says, lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. So again, talking about fasting, he says, don't do it in front of everybody to be seen by them. Do it between you and the Lord. And as he's referring to all these different things and doing it between you and the Lord and not for everybody else to see, he says, lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. And he points out, hey, you cannot serve two masters alone.

You can't serve God and money. You can't serve God and people. You can't be divided like that. You need to be wholeheartedly devoted to God. Make sure that you're living to please Him. And that needs to be the motive for your times of prayer, for the things that you do, for your giving, for everything that you do needs to be motivated that I want to please God. That's what's most important to me.

Well, then he goes on in verses 25 through 34 to talk about worry. And he says, do not worry about your life. He gives a couple examples. He says, look, God takes care of the birds. He says, God takes care of the grass. He says, you can't even control your life enough to add one cubit or a couple inches to your height.

So what good is worrying? You can't accomplish anything with your worrying. Instead, he says in verse 33, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added to you. Jesus says, you don't have a lot of control. You can't do a whole lot about your life, but here's something you can do. Seek first the kingdom of God. Put God first and

And then he'll take care of the rest. He'll provide for you and meet your needs. He'll take care of those things that you need. Your job is not to worry about how is God going to provide it. Your job is not to like make it happen yourself. But to put God first. To seek God first. And he'll take care of the rest. Well now chapter 7. The final part of the Sermon on the Mount. Verse 7 is the key verse.

He says, ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened to you. In verses 1 through 6, he says, judge not that you be not judged. He says, judge not. He's talking about the heart. You and I are not equipped to

For judging people's motives. We're not equipped to judge people's hearts. We don't know what's happening behind the scenes. We don't really know what's happening within. He's not saying don't evaluate their life. In fact, we see that in the very same chapter in verse 16 as he's talking about false prophets. He says, you'll know them by their fruit.

You can evaluate the outside, but you're not capable of evaluating the inside. And so judge not lest you be judged. And then if you are going to be helping them with the outside, he goes on to talk about take the plank out of your eye

before you help them with the speck in their eye. In other words, as we talked about a couple weeks ago, we all have those blind spots. And sometimes we can look very self-righteously at others and say, you've got a speck, you've got an issue, and I'm going to help you deal with that. Meanwhile, I've got this blind spot. There's this huge issue in my face. I can't even see it. I don't recognize that it's there. And Jesus is saying, check your heart first.

Let God deal with your issue and then you'll be able to help your friend or help your fellow Christian with the issue in their life. Verses 7 through 14, he says, seek and you will find. Or you could also translate this, keep on seeking, keep on asking, keep on knocking.

And it emphasizes here that God is desiring a continuous, ongoing relationship with us. That he wants us to continue to come back to him, to continue to ask him, to continue to knock, and to walk with him. It's not a one-time thing, but an ongoing, keep on seeking, keep on asking, keep on knocking. Then he warns against false prophets in verses 15 through 23.

He says, beware of false prophets. There are going to be those who have bad motives in their proclaiming of, well, whatever it is that they're proclaiming. There are going to be those who distort the truth. There are going to be those who are promoting lies. And so he says, watch out for that. And he gives some insight on how to do that. He says, watch their life. He says, by their fruit, you will know them. And so you can watch a person's life and say,

What's the fruit like? Is it the fruit of the Spirit from Galatians chapter 5? Or is it something else? The author of Hebrews also addresses this. Hebrews chapter 13 verse 7. He says,

So the Bible is saying, Jesus is saying, Hebrews is saying, don't just follow people blindly. Just accept whatever they say. Check it out yourself in the word of God. Check out their life. See what's it like. Is there good fruit coming from their lives? Is the outcome of their faith good? Or the outcome of their conduct good? And if it is, then follow. But if it's not, he says, watch out, they're false prophets.

Then in verses 24 through 29, he ends the message, the Sermon on the Mount, saying, hear these sayings of mine and do them. He gives the illustration of building your house upon the rock or building your house upon the sand. Both cases are people who heard Jesus' words. The only difference was one person heard his words and then acted upon them and the other heard the words of Jesus and did not act upon them.

And so whether or not they put it into practice determined the foundation. If you obey what Jesus says, your house will be built upon the rock. And no matter what storm comes against it, it will not fall because you are founded upon the rock. That comes from being obedient to Jesus. But if you hear Jesus' words and you read the Bible and you enjoy great messages, but then you don't actually do anything, you don't live it out,

then it's like building your house on the sand and the same storm is going to come to both people but when the storm comes and your house is on the sand there's no foundation and the storm will wipe it out so the importance of hearing but then also putting it into practice we can't just say well i read the bible or i heard a good message or i listened to k wave the real question is what are you doing about it how are you putting it into practice and living it out

Chapter 8 now, verse 16 is the key verse. It says, when evening had come, they brought to him many who were demon-possessed, and he cast out spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. Now as he finishes the Sermon on the Mount, he goes forward, and now there's a lot of action here. A lot of things are happening. In verses 1 through 4, we see he cleanses a leper. This leper comes before him, he worships him, and Jesus cleanses him. He heals him from his leprosy.

Then in verses 5 through 13, he heals a centurion's servant. A centurion was a Roman officer who was in charge of a hundred men. And he had a servant that was sick. And so Jesus heals him. He recognizes the authority of Jesus. He says, I'm not worthy for you to come into my house. But Jesus, I know you're a man of authority. If you just give your word...

Say the word and my servant will be healed. And Jesus is impressed by his faith and his servant is healed. It records that he heals many there in verses 14 through 17, including Peter's mother-in-law. And it caused me to wonder if Peter was bummed out when that happened. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. It was bad.

Verse 18 through 20. It's not a good message if there's not a mother-in-law reference, right? I mean, that's just kind of how it's supposed to be. Verse 18 through 20. Two men approach Jesus and ask to follow him. And he gives them some challenges. And it actually doesn't tell us whether or not they do follow. But he challenges them and gives them, you know, helps them to count the cost before they follow Jesus.

Then in verses 23 through 27, you see that Jesus calms the storm. As the disciples are freaked out, they're going across the Sea of Galilee. And there's this great storm. Jesus is asleep. And they wake him up like, hey, you know, don't you care we're going to die? And Jesus says, oh, you of little faith. And he speaks to the wind. He speaks to the waves. And the storm ceases.

Then in verses 28 through 34, Jesus casts demons out of two men. And the demons say, hey, if you're going to cast us out, send us into the swine. And so they go into the swine and the pigs run off the cliff and drown in the Sea of Galilee. So here's what it looks like on the map. Jesus has been ministering in the region of Capernaum.

He goes across. There's a storm. He calms the storm. They continue across. They land on the other side of the Sea of Galilee and in the region of the Gergesenes. And so there is where he encounters the two men who are demon-possessed and sets them free. And the pigs run off the cliff into the Sea of Galilee at that point. Now, I wanted to show the map and just point this out because this is always encouraging to me whenever I read through this passage.

because as you read the account, you go on into chapter 9, verse 1 says, So he got into the boat, crossed over, and came to his own city. So he was in Capernaum. He goes across the sea, heals these two guys, and then goes directly back to Capernaum. He went there across the sea just to encounter these two guys and set them free.

And it just reminds me of how much Jesus is concerned about us. And he's willing to go out of his way across the sea just to meet up with these two guys who are in need so that he might deliver them. Great, beautiful picture of the heart of our Lord. Well, there's a couple Old Testament references here. Verse 4 says,

Jesus says, see that you tell no one talking to the leper that was cleansed, but go your way, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded as a testimony to them.

And so here Jesus is referring to Leviticus chapter 14. You can look specifically at verse 4, but there's also some other instructions in the surrounding verses where God gave instructions for what a leper should do if they were healed of their leprosy, which is always a cool thing as well because leprosy was not curable. And so God was, you know, making room in his law for him to work miracles and to heal people miraculously.

Then in verse 17, it says that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying he himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses. And so as he's healing people, Matthew says this is in fulfillment to Isaiah chapter 53 verse 4, talking about how he has absorbed or borne our sicknesses and illnesses. And so he's doing this healing work as a result.

We finish it up now in chapter 9, verse 35 is the key verse. It says, Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. In verses 1 through 8, Jesus forgives and heals a paralytic.

At the same time, he demonstrates that he is God because he first forgives the man's sins. And when the people freak out about that, they say, hey, only God can forgive sins. And he says, you're right. And so you know what I'm talking about here. He says, take up your mat and walk. And he heals the paralytic. And so demonstrating that he is God and is able to forgive sins.

Verses 9 through 13, we encounter Matthew. He follows Jesus. And so he was a tax collector. And at this point, Jesus calls out to him. And he leaves that business behind and begins to follow the Lord.

In verses 14 through 17, he gives the teaching about new wine and putting that into new wineskins. Now this comes about because they were questioning the disciples about fasting. They were saying, look, John the Baptist's disciples fast. The Pharisees' disciples fast. Jesus, how come your disciples don't fast? And so what they were doing is they were trying to fit Jesus' ministry into their existing religious system.

And Jesus is saying, look, you don't put new wine in an old religious system. You put new wine in a new wineskin. I'm doing something new. And so my disciples are not going to fast like the Pharisees' disciples fast or John the Baptist's disciples fast because I'm doing a new thing, a new work, a new covenant. It's not going to be exactly the same. And don't try to make it fit with what you already follow because what I'm offering is something entirely different.

Then in verses 18 through 26, you see Jesus healing a woman and a girl. A woman who had an issue of blood and then a girl who he raised up. And so this is a great account which we don't have time to get into. So hopefully you read it and the Lord ministered to you. Then in verses 27 through 38, it says that Jesus went about teaching, preaching, and healing.

And so he goes about, you know, continuing to go in the area of this ministry of teaching, preaching, and healing. Well, we have one reference to the Old Testament, the 20th reference so far in the book of Matthew. It's in verse 13. He says, go and learn what this means. I desire mercy and not sacrifice, for I did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. And here also we get to see the heart of the Lord.

The people were complaining, the religious leaders were complaining because Jesus was hanging out with sinners. Specifically Matthew, the tax collector, and all his buddies. And so the people are like, hey, he's hanging out with sinners. And Jesus says, look, you need to learn what the word says. He quotes from Hosea chapter 6 verse 6. God says, rather than offering a bunch of sacrifices or doing some great religious ritual...

I'd much rather you learn to be merciful. Show mercy. Be gracious. And that's what I'm doing, he's saying. I'm being merciful. These people are sinners, yes. And I'm showing them mercy. And I'm meeting with them. And I'm offering to them salvation. So go learn what that means, he says. Because you're sticklers for the rules for the religious system. But you've missed the point. And that's about the mercy of God.

And so here in all these references and the ones that are yet to come in the book of Matthew, we can see, we can hear Matthew's message. Jesus is the promised Messiah. He fulfilled the scriptures. He's concerned about your heart. He doesn't want just outward religious things. He wants your heart. He wants real relationship with you where you continue to seek and ask and knock and walk with him.

And we see also that salvation is only found in him. So make sure that you are pursuing Jesus Christ, that he's first, that he's foremost, the most important thing in your life. Lord, we do ask that you would help us to do that. Help us, Lord, to build our lives upon the rock.

Lord, that we would not just hear your words and learn from them and grow our information or our understanding of you, but Lord, that we would also put it into practice and live it out. So Lord, help us to walk with you, to ask and seek and knock to know you.

Lord, that we would make you the first and foremost in our lives. And as we do, Lord, we pray that you would supply everything that we need. As we seek first the kingdom of God and your righteousness, Lord, I pray that you would be faithful to your word, meet our needs, provide for us, provide for our families, and do wonderful works for your glory, for your name, that we would be your witnesses to the world around us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.